


To Whom It May Concern

by KiwiBerry



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Letters, Lots of Secrets, M/M, Petra is the best, Petra/Marco friendship, University AU, Unrequited Love, but not really, kinda slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-21
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-13 07:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1217548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiwiBerry/pseuds/KiwiBerry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just when Jean thinks all is lost he gets a mysterious letter in the mail...from a girl??  Who is this mysterious woman and why is she sending Jean letters?  And, most importantly, why's Marco acting all weird about it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey :) So this is part of a I-don't-know-how-long multi-chap fic about my favorite adorable Titan killer babies. Now I know this chapter is short but bear with me; it's just a prologue. Im aiming for all following chapters to be around 1000-2000 words or more if inspirations strikes me hard. I hope you enjoy and I look forward to posting the next chapter soon. That's when we get into the good stuff! Any questions, comments or concerns, come find me over at brojolras.tumblr.com!

The first letter arrived on a Wednesday. 

They were all checking their mail before heading back to the dorms, having just come from dinner in the mess hall. Connie was complaining to Sasha and Eren about how he, yet again, had received no mail from his family, or anyone for that matter. Mikasa had found a letter from the Dean, most likely congratulating her once again for just being naturally amazing at everything. Armin had gotten a package and Bertholdt expressed his sympathy for he too had received a package but the mail office was already closed for the night. Reiner didn’t bother to check and Marco followed Jean to his, since he’d checked his own box earlier in the day. 

“I checked it after class this morning,” Marco explained as Jean entered his combination, “It was just an ad for the upcoming Titan Run.”

Jean snorted at the other’s comment as his lock clicked open. He’d expected to find nothing, per usual, but instead he found a small, manila envelope with his name addressed on the front. There was no return address or anything. Just his name and a smiley face sticker on the back that held down the flap. Jean flipped the thing over a few times, not sure what to make of it, before having it snatched out of his hand by Marco. 

“You got a letter!” he exclaimed, turning it over and smiling, “Who’s it from?”

Jean shrugged, stealing the letter back, “I don’t know.”

At that point, most of their friends had turned their attention toward Jean and his unknown letter. Connie had even come up behind him, poking eagerly at the envelope over Jean’s shoulder. 

“It looks like it’s from a girl,” Connie commented as Jean swatted his hand away. Everyone around him gasped. Reiner slung an arm around Jean roughly.

“Jean’s finally got himself a girlfriend, eh?” he laughed, and Jean pushed him off. 

“Shut up! I don’t even know if it is a girl...”

“Then open it!” Sasha exclaimed from somewhere behind him, fist bumping Connie who’d probably just made some kind of juvenile joke. Jean rolled his eyes before tearing the sticker and pulling out a small, neatly folded letter. He unfolded it, scanning the letter halfheartedly before freezing, a small blush lighting up his cheeks, and refolding it and stuffing it back in the envelope. Connie groaned in disappointment.

“Hey, man, that’s not fair! What did it say?”

Jean ignored him, pocketing the envelope in his sweatshirt pouch before walking away. Everyone looked at each other in confusion and Marco was the first to step up and stop Jean before he could get too far.

“Hey, wait!” Marco yelled, grabbing the handle of Jean’s backpack and pulling on it, “What did it say?”

When Jean turned around his face was beet red and he ran a hand through his hair in distress. 

“It’s, uh, from, uh, a girl…” Jean eventually admitted, looking anywhere but at Marco. Behind them a few cheers erupted and Marco’s face fell just so. 

“Dude! Way to go!”

“There’s no way a girl would send a letter to Jean! It’s not possible.”

“I’m happy for you, Jean.”

“Do you know who it’s from?”

Jean looked up at the question, having realized it had come quieter than the rest and from Marco of all people. Jean shook his head, not meeting the other’s eyes.

“No.”

Marco didn’t reply, didn’t so much as smile or frown or do anything that would display what he was feeling. His face was blank as Reiner and Connie grabbed Jean by the arms and dragged him outside, the others following suite with laughter as the two composed a song on Jean’s behalf about his newest conquest of love. Marco stayed where he was, hearing his friends voices echo outside before the door closed and their voices were cut off. The low hum of the vending machines echoed in his ears and the silence that grew around him felt suffocating. When he finally decided to move, he did so with a heavy heart, and, as silly as it may sound, he felt as if his whole world had come crashing down around him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some kind of tension builds, I guess, and Petra is super supportive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I based the college in this AU after my own college and since we have places like the Marketplace (our cafeteria), The JaysNest (our in school convenience store) and the BSC (where all of this is located along with some more facilities of the like) I based the ones in this story off of those respectively (ie The Wall (caf), Titan's Den (conveniency store), The Colossal Center (general building), etc. I just wanted to make that clear since I mention some of these places in later chapters!
> 
> ps this chapter is kind of short but bear with me! They'll get longer I promise!

“Did you know Jean got a letter yesterday?”

Petra looked up from her spot at the lunch table to find Marco standing before her. She glanced at the clock, noting that there were just a few minutes before she’d have to leave for her next class, and patted the table, motioning for him to sit before continuing. 

“From who?” she asked, taking a bite from her apple and noticing the sad expression on her friend’s face. She jumped, however, when Mike knocked over a salt shaker and Hanji yelled at him to throw salt over his shoulder before he was cursed with bad luck. On the other side of her, Levi scoffed, not taking his eyes off of his pudding, and Erwin continued reading the textbook laid out in front of him. Hanji mocked offense and Levi just rolled his eyes. Petra gave him a look before returning her attention to Marco. 

“Sorry. So this letter?” She kept her focus on Marco this time, ignoring the argument that ensued around her. 

“Well, yesterday we were checking our mail-”

“It is true! I read about it in a book!” Hanji defended, pointing at Levi with her fork.

“And Jean got this letter-”

“I sincerely doubt that and the fact that you’ve read any book besides an anatomy text book in the last year,” Levi shot back, pushing around the pasta on his plate boredly.

“But he doesn’t know who it’s from-”

“Don’t pretend to know things you don’t, Levi. Especially when it concerns me,” Hanji shot back with narrowed eyes.

“Pretty sure it’s a girl. Everyone thinks so…”

“I know more about you than I care too, Hanji,” Levi admitted and Hanji rolled her eyes before standing up and leaving, grabbing her backpack dramatically and dragging it behind her as she left, muttering something about an anatomy exam she had to study for.

Levi watched her leave and looked at his phone to check the time. He knew she’d get over it in a few hours. Petra sighed, throwing Marco an apologetic look. 

“Wanna come over and talk about it after class?” she asked with a reassuring smile, knowing that this was one conversation that would need a different setting. 

Marco smiled, mirroring Petra as she stood up and waved goodbye to her friends, “Yeah, sure.”

“Perfect!” She grabbed Marco roughly and linked their arms, disposing of her tray and exiting The Wall, “Come to my dorm around three? Hanji has class then so it’ll just be us for an hour or so.”

Marco nodded before the two separated, Petra heading off to her Biology class and him heading to the library to distract himself for a little while. 

 

Marco was curled up and content in his usual spot on the third floor of the library, nestled in an oversized armchair in the corner of the Children’s Wing. SInce the school’s library was also the community’s library, not many student’s used the area since families with little kids constantly came and went with much noise and ensuing chaos. But Marco didn’t mind--he liked the constant interaction. It made him feel at peace in a way. So when he heard someone walk into the wing he assumed it was another child looking for a copy of one of the library’s Big Book of Fairytales and was not prepared for the rough voice that followed. 

“Hey.”

Marco jumped and almost fell out of his armchair, having had his legs dangling over the one side precariously, and when he leaned his head back to see who had arrived he saw it was only Jean.

“Hi,” Marco said slowly, placing the book he was reading onto the floor as he righted himself. Jean raised an eyebrow before flopping down into the armchair across from him, letting his bookbag fall onto the floor with a thud. 

“You haven’t been in the room since you left for class this morning,” Jean commented, not one to beat around the bush, “You alright?”

Marco waved his hand dismissively with a smile, “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. Really.”

“Don’t give me that shit,” Jean frowned, surprising the other, “You didn’t make your bed this morning when you left. Something’s up.”

Marco leaned back into his chair with an bemused sigh, “You can’t actually read how I’m feeling by whether or not I made my bed, Jean”

“Last week you didn’t make your bed either,” Jean supplied matter-of-factly, “I found out later you did terrible on your Calculus test. Out with it.”

An uncomfortable silence followed, and Marco wouldn’t meet Jean’s eyes. What was he supposed to say? That he was bummed because Jean got an anonymous letter from some girl? That he was scared he would get his best friend stolen away from him from some blue-eyed, high ponytailed upper classmen? That he’d been wanting to tell Jean that he sometimes felt like more than a best friend and found the idea exhilarating, almost liberating at times? No. He couldn’t say any of this. Not, at least, if he wanted to keep Jean by his side--if he didn’t want Jean to run away and never come back. So instead he pushed all of that aside and put on a perfect smile and said, “I guess I’m just a little tired, is all. “

Jean watched him, unconvinced to say the least, but before he could pry any further, Marco’s phone rang and when he picked it up Petra’s voice echoed on the other end. 

“Hey, hey,” she greeted, and Marco could picture her smiling on the other end, “Hanji just left for class, if you want to head over. And bring snacks! I’m starving and Hanji hasn’t gotten around to grocery shopping for the week.”

Marco nodded to himself and took a moment to mouth Petra’s name at Jean, who rolled his eyes. “Okay. I’ll be over in a few minutes. And I’ll see what I can grab from the Titan’s Den.”

“Perfect!” came the reply on the other end, “See you soon!”

Marco listened as Petra hung up and pocketed his phone quickly. He reached for the book at his feet then and began to stand, “I’m gonna go over to Petra’s for a little bit, if you don’t mind. She wants to talk to me about her Literature homework.”

Jean nodded in understanding and pulled out his phone. He believed him so easily Marco almost felt bad about lying to him. 

“But we’re talking about this later,” Jean reminded without missing a beat, “So don’t think you’re off the hook just yet.”

Marco felt anxiety at the other’s words but steeled himself before turning around with a smile, “Yeah. Okay.”

Jean let out a satisfied grunt as he continued scrolling through his phone, body slumped against the armchair and legs spread casually. Marco wanted to comment on the other’s bad posture but realized now wasn’t the time. The less time he spent around Jean the better, at this point. So he left without another word, only feeling a tinge of guilt at leaving Jean in the dark. Even if it was just for a little while.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Petra is the best and alcohol is highly approved of when stressed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: underage alcohol use and positive alcohol use in this chapter just in case anyone wasn't okay with that :)

Petra and Hanji lived in the apartments on campus, which were really just glorified dorms with a sink, a common area, and a single bathroom, and it only took a minute or two to get there from the library since it was seated near the outer edge of campus. Unfortunately, Marco had to make a stop at the Titan’s Den which meant a small detour to the Colossal Center, which was located near the center of campus. So, once he’d arrived, chosen Petra’s favorite chocolate drizzled popcorn, and headed back toward the apartment’s, it had been a good twenty minutes, and Petra scolded him on his timing when he showed up at her doorstep.

“What took you so long?” she chided, poking his chest with a single finger before stealing the popcorn he was holding. Marco closed the door behind him as he watched Petra collapse onto her and Hanji’s shared couch and stick a piece of chocolate popcorn into her mouth. She munched a moment, noting the way Marco stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, before sighing exasperatedly and sitting upright.

“Alright. Out with it. What’s up?” she demanded, patting the seat cushion next to her.

Marco flinched at her words, too similar to the conversation he’d just had with Jean, and the connection made his head feel heavy. Petra must have noticed his distress because she abandoned her seat and popcorn and stepped toward him, tilting his face down toward her’s cautiously. 

“What’s wrong?”

Marco felt tired. He couldn’t explain it. He was worried. 

“I’m afraid I’ll lose him,” he admitted after a moment, much to his own surprise, looking directly into Petra’s eyes and wondering if she could understand what he was feeling. Luckily she could. She was good with things like that.

“Hey,” she breathed out calmly, cradling Marco’s face in her hands. “You won’t lose him. I promise.”

Marco nodded, not entirely convinced of her words since he assumed she had no idea what he was talking about, but followed her wordlessly to the couch where she sat them both down and pulled her own knees up to her chest. Marco relaxed a bit, letting out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. Petra always was good at calming him down.

“So,” she tried again, grabbing a handful of popcorn and shoving it into her mouth, “What’s going on?”

Marco laughed at his friends full mouth before leaning back against the couch wearily, “I told you Jean got a letter, didn’t I?”

Petra nodded, popping another piece of popcorn into her mouth quietly. She handed a few to Marco too, who accepted them kindly. 

“Well, I know it’s stupid, but I can’t help worrying,” he explained, taking a moment to pop a few kernels into his mouth and chew, “I mean, it’s just a stupid letter, right? It could be from anyone. But I’m afraid if it’s from the right person they might, you know, act on it?”

“And you’re afraid Jean will stop hanging out with you if he gets involved with some girl?” Petra finished for him, connecting the dots rather quickly.

Marco nodded, “I know it’s silly--selfish, really. But I-”

“You love him.” Her eyes were locked on Marco’s. It wasn’t a question. 

“Yeah,” he admitted shyly, running a hand through his hair in thought, “I guess so. But we’ve already been over this, Petra.”

“I know, but I feel like I need to remind you regularly. Plus, you always blush when I bring it up.”

Marco felt his cheeks grow warm, and looked away, embarrassed. “A-anyway, I can’t help feeling awkward around Jean now. I know I shouldn’t-- nothing’s changed, at least not yet--but the possibilities scare me. I know you’re going to tell me I worry too much, but I can’t help it.”

Petra smiled, pushing herself off of the couch, and gave a hand to help Marco do the same. “You’re right about that last part. Which means I, as your best friend, am obligated to make you stop worrying. Which means we’re going out.”

Marco stood, watching Petra dig through her closet and pull out a small black coat and shrug it on. She then grabbed her keys from the kitchen and swung them on her finger with a smirk. Marco rolled his eyes before being dragged out of the apartment and down the stairs, practically two at a time. 

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Petra promised, pushing open the building’s double doors and letting the cool, spring air whip in their faces. Marco wished he’d brought a hat. 

Their destination ended up being Erwin, Mike, and Levi’s quad. It was a small two story house-like dorm that resided a short walk outside the campus limits. It was reserved mainly for upperclassmen, so it wasn’t hard for the three of them to obtain one. The only problem had been that there were only three of them when rules dictated that there needed to be four to a complex. But Levi had waved his hand and reminded the Residence director of his class ranking, which was number one, and eventually they received the quad, much to the dismay of many other qualified seniors. 

It was only five o’clock when they arrived and Petra didn’t even bother knocking; she simply walked in and greeted a disgruntled Mike, who sat on the living room couch eating out of a box of froot loops, and a studying Levi, who laid on the floor with textbooks all around him. Erwin was out, most likely putting in hours at his newest internship, and before Marco knew what was happening Petra had retrieved two bottles of wine from the fridge and placed them in the middle of the coffee table with a smile. Levi and Mike exchanged all-knowing looks.

“And before you say anything, were technically off campus, everyone is of age except for you, and only by, like, a year,” she rushed out before Marco could protest.

“Two actually,” he corrected but accepted the delicate glass she handed him anyways, already filled half way. He stared at it a moment, swishing the liquid around, before reminding himself how Jean would definitely disapprove. He downed the glass in one go. Petra smiled in approval.

Marco questioned Petra’s mantra of “drink your worries away” but he always went along with it eventually. And he had to admit, it usually worked. For the next few hours, Marco’s mind went fuzzy and all he could concentrate on was how hilarious the movie they were watching was and the way Petra carded a hand through his hair when he felt his vision cross for a few moments. 

“Am I allowed to ask why the sudden alcohol party or is that confidential?” Mike wondered from his position on the couch sometime later, sniffing the remaining wine in his glass before taking another sip. “Not that I’m complaining.” He flipped through the channels on the TV a few times before grabbing a handful of froot loops and wiping his crummy hands off on the couch afterwards. Levi eyed him dangerously. Petra only shrugged and looked toward Marco, who shrugged back. 

“Boy trouble,” she revealed at the other’s approval, looking toward Levi who scoffed, “Not everybody can be in a perfect relationship like us, Levi.”

Marco noted Petra’s sarcasm and laughed. Levi rolled his eyes but allowed Petra to pull him closer. He’d abandoned his glass long ago, not really one for drinking, but went along with them anyway, since, well, it was Petra after all. Marco never understood how she did it. 

“Why don’t you just, you know, tell him?” Mike asked casually after awhile, eyes not meeting Marco’s. Marco thought about it for a moment but didn’t like his answer.

“I guess it’s because, and don’t laugh at this, but we have a, uh, good thing going,” Marco confessed, rubbing his eyes wearily, “Between us, I mean. We’re good friends and I guess I’d, uh, rather have him as a friend then risk asking for something more, ya know?”

Mike didn’t look at Marco as he pondered the other’s question, and he heard Levi mumble something into Petra’s shoulder but she only sighed and waved it off. Marco let the question slide then but was surprised when Mike responded a moment later.

“Yeah,” he conceded, glancing at Marco quickly, “I understand.”

Marco nodded but felt like he was missing something important. His mind was too foggy to focus though and he let the comment be.

After that the discussion fell back into a somewhat casual drift and Marco was grateful for the distraction. Erwin arrived back later in the night, and Marco was pretty sure he laughed at the state everyone was in: Marco having been sprawled on the floor and smiling distractedly at the ceiling while Petra sat against the couch with Levi’s head in her lap, frowning even in his sleep, and Mike was still curled up on the couch, eating out of his cereal box. 

“Did I miss something?” he asked with a shake of his head and two out of four heads nodded in reply. He eventually sent Mike and Levi to bed without too many protests, and Petra apologized to Erwin before picking Marco up off of the floor and out of the quad, letting the screen door shut behind her which she shushed before realizing it. 

“Did you just shush the door?” Marco asked, bewildered and stumbling slightly off the front step. Petra shook her head and pushed him along, trying to keep either of them from tripping on the sidewalk. 

As they walked toward their dorms Petra pulled Marco close, linking their arms as they ventured through the frigid night air and pulled their collars up to protect the exposed skin on the back of their necks. When they reached Marco’s dorm, he fumbled with his key as he tried to put it in the door’s lock but eventually he got it and Petra kissed him goodbye before walking away. Marco thanked her as she did and trudged up the stairs, stumbling slightly as he pushed open his own door and entered the room. He took a few steps, dropping his backpack immediately, and collapsed onto his bed with a satisfied grunt. His head was swimming, his eyelids were growing heavy, and he just wanted to sleep. He almost didn’t notice the figure that got up out of bed next to him and closed the door he’d accidentally left open, too busy shoving his face in his pillow and letting himself slip into sleep. He was going to apologize, but all he could get out was a muffled, “‘fanks” before feeling sleep overcome him. He sighed into his pillow then and figured he’d worry about it in the morning.


End file.
